Malloy, Foley Each Address AFL-CIO

Challenger On Defensive Over 'Wisconsin Moment' Comments

NEW HAVEN — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Republican rival Tom Foley addressed the Connecticut AFL-CIO just hours apart on Monday, but the two men offered strikingly different styles and messages.

From the start of his speech, Malloy seized upon the collective energy of the partisan crowd as he highlighted his record and celebrated the work of organized labor.

"Thank you for the hard work," the Democratic governor said. "Thank you for making sure that people are well taken care of and have a right to expect a retirement and they have a right to expect health care."

While Malloy enjoyed the warm embrace of the friendly crowd — the state's largest labor organization is almost certain to endorse the governor's re-election bid on Tuesday morning — Foley spent time on the defensive.

The Greenwich businessman devoted much of his speech to an attempt at convincing the delegates that, if elected, he will not propose legislation similar to the collective bargaining regulations passed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Some, including a Wisconsin labor leader who spoke before Foley on Monday morning, have called those laws "union-busting" and used them as a rallying cry against Republican candidates.

"Looking for a Wisconsin moment in Connecticut… means I'm hoping we go from one-party rule to more balanced government, as Wisconsin did in 2010," Foley said. "It does not mean I will change the way collective bargaining works in our state."

Foley's words prompted a wave of laughter. "Did I say something funny?" he asked. Delegates in the crowd replied with a collective "yes."

In an interview with The Courant last summer, Foley said that "a Wisconsin moment" was possible in Connecticut, where Democrats control both houses of the legislature and the governor's office.

Foley said Monday he was using the phrase symbolically, to signify a political reshuffling that ended Democratic control of state government in Wisconsin, not an assault on collective bargaining rights. Attempting to dismantle collective bargaining rights would be "a fool's errand,'' he told reporters after the speech.

During his 15-minute speech, Foley tried to establish a bond between his platform and the aims of the state's unions. He criticized Malloy's economic policies, which have funneled tax breaks and other monetary incentives to large companies as a reward for retaining or creating jobs in the state, a strategy he dubbed "corporate welfare." He slammed the Common Core education standards, which the Malloy administration supports.

And he portrayed himself as "a good listener" and "a straight talker" who isn't out to demonize state workers and slash government jobs. "We must get control over state spending by holding spending flat for two years,'' he said. "I can do this without layoffs and without undoing the agreements public employees have in the state of Connecticut."

Foley was referring to the 2011 pact with state employee unions that prohibits layoffs through June 30, 2015. "A deal is a deal," he said.

After Foley spoke, Lori J. Pelletier, executive secretary-treasurer of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, the state's largest labor organization, told reporters that she remains skeptical about Foley's candidacy.

"I thought it was crafted for this audience," Pelletier said. She added that she did not believe many of Foley's claims, including his attempt to clarify his Wisconsin remarks.

"No, I don't. Because when he said he wanted a Wisconsin moment, it was not about the makeup of the General Assembly versus the different branches of government. That was not what he was talking about," she said.

In his speech, Malloy said that unions fuel the American middle class and lamented that organized labor is under political attack in some states.

"There's a problem in America and you can read about it, you can understand it, if you take the time to read or listen: It's that the middle class is getting pretty badly beaten up," Malloy said. "The union movement, which in so many ways is responsible for the growth of the middle class in America, seems to have a target on its back in state after state after state."

The governor also acknowledged that he had made mistakes with the unions — perhaps a reference to bitter battles with organized labor over a money-saving concession package in 2011 — but he emphasized his pro-labor credentials.

"Let's be very clear," Malloy said. "I stand with labor. I always have. I always will. It goes back to who I am and what I am."

He also threw a jab at Foley on the Wisconsin issue.

"When he said he wants a 'Wisconsin moment,' it wasn't about encouraging people to eat cheese," Malloy told reporters. "You can't take back those words. ... What he was talking about was going after labor, which I equate to going after the middle class."

While the federation will vote on Tuesday to endorse a single ticket — likely Malloy-Wyman — Monday's proceedings included "endorsed" candidates from both parties. A number of gubernatorial hopefuls, including the liberal Democrat Jonathan Pelto, were thus left off the program. Pelto was vocal on Monday that he should have been included.